Dairy farmers in Arizona supporting education through contest

Aug 05, 2015

$30,000 in scholarship money available to be won

Anyone who has had a glass of milk has suffered the ill-fated milk mustache.

Thanks to dairy farmers in Arizona, that same milk mustache could help high school seniors and college students pay for part of their tuition.

The Arizona Milk Producers Annual Scholarship Program is offering up to $30,000 in scholarship money for the top three milk mustaches in the state.

Milk mustache

The first place winner will receive a $12,000 scholarship, second place a $10,000 scholarship and third place will receive $8,000.

"The Kerr family has been providing nutritious milk to Arizonans for four generations," said Bill Kerr, owner of Kerr Family Dairy. "Our roots are here so our commitment to community goes beyond producing high quality, farm-fresh milk and I'm thrilled to be part of a program helping students earn an education."

Students are encouraged to upload photos of their best milk mustache to Instagram, tagging @azmilkproducers and using the hashtag #ampscholarshipcontest in the process. Entrants are encouraged to show how dairy plays a role in their daily lives and because football tickets are also available to be won, they should specify which tickets they want by using the hashtags #asu, #uofa or #nau.

The scholarship winners will be announced at the Fiesta Bowl game on January 1^st, 2016 – a game that will be attended by 15 finalists.

Entries must come from students who are eligible for the 2016 term or currently enrolled with a minimum of 12 credit hours at an Arizona university.

Video: WARNING! Rough Start To Breeding Season!!

WARNING! Sheep Breeding Season Begins With A Bang! Breeding season is officially underway at Ewetopia Farms, but it didn’t exactly start the way we planned!

This vlog begins with us sorting through our rams to find the perfect match for a customer’s breeding program. What should have been routine quickly turned dangerous when one of our more nervous rams panicked. In seconds, Arnie’s knee was injured, and then I was slammed hard onto the concrete floor — both of us taken down by one ram!

Thankfully, it was just bruises, but it’s a reminder of how unpredictable and powerful mature rams can be. Once we recovered, it was time to get back to the real work — the start of breeding season.

We sorted the ewes into four breeding groups (two Suffolk and two Dorset), checking parentage as they ran through the chute, deworming those that needed it, and setting aside thinner ewes for session two of breeding season in a month’s time.This staggered approach keeps lambing organized and prevents overcrowding in the barns.

From rogue rams to the excitement of new breeding groups, this episode is full of action. Stay tuned for the next vlog, where we’ll share how we chose the rams for each group!